This is probably THE proudest moment in my life so far. I know what you must be thinking: “Making a food product is one of your prouder moments? Do you even get out?!” And the answer is no, no I do not. But just think what would happen if I did get out. I wouldn’t be able to have paved the way for you with these gluten free vegan Cheez-Its:
RELATED: Vegan Bettar Cheddars
And we shall call them: The tastiest snack in the world.
(((Too sexy?)))
I’ll be working on that one. When I had the idea of re-creating one of my all-time favorite cheesy crackers into a gluten-free and veganized version I thought: Is is even possible…?
No.
But is it…?
Maybe.
Can I…?
I don’t know…
So I did.
And let me tell you.
Holy $#!*
Proudest moment ever.
RELATED: Baked Vegan Doritos
Gluten free vegan Cheez-Its. They’re so good, you will really want to praise the heavens!
Print
Gluten-free Vegan Cheez-Its
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
Ingredients
- 3/4 c. Cara’s All-Purpose Flour Blend
- 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 c. Daiya vegan “cheese”, cheddar flavored
- 3 Tbsp. nondairy butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. ice water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter and cheese together until blended nicely with a hand mixer. You might have to smash the vegan cheeze with the back of a fork to get it to cooperate.
- Combine flour, xanthan gum and salt in a separate bowl until fully mixed together. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture into butter/cheese until blended. Add remaining 1/2 and mix well. Add ice water and stir, making sure all scraps on the sides of the bowl have been incorporated.
- Place ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper and lightly knead until a smooth ball is made. Divide dough in half and place half into a bowl and put in the fridge.
- Roll out other half with a rolling pin between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll thin (about 1/8″ or so).
- With a pastry cutter, pattern out the shapes of the squares, going horizontally and diagonally. Make a little hole in the center of each cracker. Brush a light coat of olive oil and sprinkle the tops with a little dash of coarse salt.
- Transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes while you repeat the same process for the other half.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Store in an air-tight container. Will be fresh for a couple of days.
RELATED: GF/Vegan Wheat Thins
I couldn’t believe the crunch that these crackers gave. Not to mention the cheesy flavor! Daiya, I didn’t give you enough credit, my friend. I take it all back. You really DO know how to make a delightful vegan cheese!
I give to you the perfect little snack.
These were literally gone within in an hour.
I made these this morning. They are great! Thanks for the recipe. Super tasty. My 4 year old will surely love them. I used homemade Ghee instead of butter and simply made the dough, rolled it out, cut out the shapes and in the oven they went. No refrigeration or freezing required. They were perfect!
★★★★★
I love you. My 3 year old will love this. We have recently transitioned to a gluten-free diet. Already being vegan, it’s been interesting.
★★★★★
You got this Shayna! xo
I’m a bit late to this party but:
I’m gluten-intolerant as well as allergic to dairy, eggs, and soy, and of all things, Cheez-Its are quite possibly the thing I miss most. I’m very excited to try this recipe (yee!). Given that this was published in 2011, I am guessing Daiya hadn’t put out the cheddar slices? Which type of Daiya do you think would work best–cheddar shreds, block, or slices? Thanks so much!
I used the Daiya shredded cheeze but you can try any of the above!
made them, again…awesome. a little greasy and hard on the stomach so I might try a lighter version but on the whole, really great recipe.
Hi Cara, Thanks for the great recipe. My daughter is soy, corn, gluten, dairy, sesame, peanut free—just to name a few so she has about 3 snacks we have to rotate. It’s quite sad. Now we have 4!! And I’m so happy for that, thank you. I made these using the exact recipe except she can’t eat beans so I had to use trader joes gf flour mix. here’s what I found, I had to put 5 tablespoons of water to get something less than crumbly and even then I couldn’t roll them out. Do you think I should’ve kept adding water or when you roll yours out is it kind of, well, like GF pie crust— not really dough like but crumbly and more of a pressing flat than rolling out. The main reason I ask is because I couldn’t get mine thin enough and wondering if I need to tweak the recipe to match my flour or if I should forget the rolling and just flatten them thinner. mine were too thick but they did taste darn good anyways. also, I didn’t put the hole all the way through, not sure if that matters. just wanted to ask all of this so I can think about how to make them better for the next go.
Thank you! My kids inherited gluten/dairy allergies from both me and my husband…this is their first taste of a cheese cracker EVER and then both loved them! I didn’t have the patience to get the Daiya fully blended with the Earth Balance, but the crackers turned out well with little bits of chewy cheddar. Delicious!
YAY! I love this and I love that regardless of clumpy cheeze or not, it still tasted fab. Thank you for leaving the comment to let me know! xo
I am going to guess you used the cheddar block and not the shredded daiya. Because it is impossible to mix the shredded daiya to where it is not clumpy without melting it. 🙁
It’s actually not impossible Erica, as seen in the pictures i was able to do it-it just takes time and patience to mash it down. Scout’s honor.
I whizzed the shreds in my blender a bit first. Then went ahead and hucked the buttery spread in there too.
Wow, wow, wow- I was so pleased to find your recipe. Looked at quite a few that seemed to complicated and needed things I just didn’t have. These went together great and taste so good. I added an eight tsp of turmeric and pico de gio seasoning for color. They ended up a little salty so next time I’ll skip the top salt.
My GFCF 10 yr old loved them.
I could cry. I can’t wait to make this. Thank you so so so much!!! I loved Cheez Its so much. May the gods smile on you, seriously!!!
You are going to LOVE these! I cannot wait to hear what you think 🙂 Much love to you Cyndi, xo
So I’m very late to this party, but I’m so excited to try this out! I’m allergic to dairy and pregnant. Not a good combination because the only thing I want to eat is cheese! Well now I can! =)
Question, do you melt the cheese before you mix it with the butter?
Thanks!
Hey Christine–no need to melt the cheese before mixing it. I hope you like them! xo
I’ve made these several times and my family LOVES them! My 5-year old son has a sensitivity to eggs, wheat, and milk. He likes taking these crackers to school, so he feels like he’s eating “normal kid food.” This recipe comes together so quickly and taste great! Thank you for sharing!
I followed your recipe and it didn’t work. I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong except I didn’t a handheld mixer. Help!
I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t work out, Scarlet! The electric mixer is an important step so that is what it didn’t work as planned 🙁
I didn’t use an electric mixer either and mine turned out great. Instead, I whizzed the cheese shreds in the blender first, to chop them, then blended them with the butter in there too. If my blender had been dirty, I would have used my little push-chopper thing, or even minced them with a knife on the cutting board first.
And after adding in the water, I was sorely tempted to add more, but I held firm, since I was using the same flour blend she uses. If you use different flour(s,) you may need to add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time.
And be sure to knead with your hands where it says. Turned my clumpy lumps into a rollable dough!
We have made these a couple of times. They are great. My 4 year old says these are his favorite crackers: ) I’ve made some almond flour garlic and herb crackers and he prefers the “cheez-it’s”! Thanks for the great recipe!
I am currently baking my second round of these amazing crackers! The first ones were gone way too fast so this time I doubled the recipe and used the Daiya havarti cheese (my son seems to have developed an aversion to anything orange). I also didn’t hav any vegan butter left so I used coconut oil….can’t wait for them to cool so I can try them again!
FYI I did the math on these vs Glutino’s crackers (which aren’t vegan) and you get almost double for your money!
These are amazing! I found you last September and finally made the exact recipe today. I finally bought Bobs Red Mill flour and I was kind of dissapointed. I’ve been using Maninis all purpose gluten free flour and the cheese it’s were amazing! Just wanted to let you know of another gluten free product (they are based in WA state, but ship everywhere- no I don’t work for them, but my husband bakes their bread all the time and people who can eat wheat love it). I really need to read more of your blog. So excited to have found your blog
I have never heard of Maninis. Looks like I will be looking into a new product–thank you for the suggestion 🙂 So glad that you liked this recipe! xo
Omg omg you have made me the happiest gluten free person in the universe!!!
I have been waiting almost five years for a cheez it, and now, thanks to this, I will soon!!!!!!
do you use garbanzo beans or fava beans?
Hi Linda! I used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose which has garbanzo bean flour in it 🙂
thank you cara, you have great recipes…and thank you for sharing them, I love reading everyone’s comments.
Hallelujah! 😉
Random, but lets say I made these on Monday or even Tuesday, would they be good on Friday? I’m relying on the fact that I am going to put them into a container and hide them from myself…… or I’m going to make quadruple the recipe. 🙂
Either way, I’m vegan and going to a household with a GF teen who misses treats.
Thanks! mmmmm
Hi Sarah! Great question. You know, I found that they were pretty good the next day, however, I am not sure after that–I usually eat them within the first 24 hours 🙂 Guilty. If you do store them, I say store them in the fridge (I know, cold crackers–not all that great) and they probably have a 2 day shelf life.
I know you are GF, but I am not…and I hate to bug you about normal flour, but I want to make these…like now and do not have all the GF flour, any idea what would be the amount for regular flour? I know that with GF flours the amounts are usually different!
thank sooo much!
I think that this would be an equal replacement, actually. So just use the same amount of regular flour specified for the GF mix 🙂
I just recently saw this posting…I used Red Mill AP GF Flour. The recipe states to roll out about 1/4″ thick, but I’m not fond of that thickness and they don’t turn out like they do in your pics. I’ll go thinner next time. What about the cheese? It seemed a bit clumpy. What am I doing wrong?
I’m probably incorrect in my estimation of how thin I rolled them out to be then. I have a problem with that; I easily forget and then try to estimate and sometimes fail at it 🙂 Sorry! About the clumpiness, just try to blend it in the mixer as much as you can. That is what worked nicely for me. Hopefully this helps! xo
I’m bad at that, too (with estimation). I made them a 2nd time. I’m going to try another flour. I used the AP (by Red Mill). I’m thinking that might help. Thanks again. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even be attempting these 🙂
these are so good my son who has many food allergies loved them. he took the remainder of the crackers to share with his preschool classmates today. when i picked him up everyone raved about them and they were impressed that i made them.
This looks amazing! I will have to try out this recipe. 🙂
Just found your blog (thanks to Daiya) and tried these out today. We can’t use Bob’s, beans aren’t friendly to me–but we used Mama’s Almond GF Flour blend, and had to increase the water to 3 tb before the mixture would stop crumbling apart. They were awesome. My son is GF/DF/EF , the rest of us are GF/EF and it’s so hard to find baking recipes that don’t include egg. UGH. Thanks so much for posting this!
OH YAY!!! I love hearing this! So glad you were able to use substitutions and that they still turned out great! xoxo
So totally stoked about this, and making them TONIGHT. My six year-old daughter just joined me by going vegan (from vegetarian) over the summer, and I am also gluten-free. Cheez-its are her favorite snacks (and cheddar bunnies, etc), and she will be SO excited that they’re back in her lunch!
You are my hero!!!! I just made these and they are delish!!!! Better yet was the look of delight on my son’s face after he tasted them!
Nice job on the recipe! They are great!
I am so excited to try these! Thank you so so much!!
Daiya’s FB post led me here. OMG. You’re my new blog crush. Major props on remaking Cheez-its. I just blogged today about how I had a craving for cheese (which really just means I want a hug) and then poof – here you are to make my world better. You rock!
Thanks so much for sharing your new recipie! They look so yummy and i cant wait to try them! Did you use vegan shredded cheese? If so what kind specifically. Im not vegan so im hoping to replace that with regulat cheese. i cant have gluten though so this recipe is so perfect! I absolutely love cheese its! Thanks so much!
Ashley
Hi Ashley! Yes, I used a vegan shredded cheez product called Daiya but you can totally just use regular cheese and it should be even better 🙂 xo!
OMG!!!! My daughter is allergic to milk and soy and these ARE A PERFECT SNACK!!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you and my sister who is vegan and has a gluten allergy will LOVE these 🙂 rock on!!
You are so very welcome! It is my pleasure… xo, Cara
These look delicious! When I have time, I’m so making these. Do you think they would work with regular stone ground whole wheat flour?
Hi Nicole! I am sure they will be fine, however I cannot guarantee it just because I haven’t tried it otherwise. Give it a test and let me know how it works out! xo
gurrrrrrl! you are my HERO
Now you have me singing like Bette Midler 🙂 Thank you for this comment, Jen! xo
I am so glad I found your blog! You are awesome! Can’t wait to try these. I manage the facebook page for VegFamily.com and I am posting this recipe now!
Hi Melanie!! Thank you so much for the comment AND for reposting this–I so appreciate it!! Cannot wait to check out VegFamily! xo
Came across your blog through Daiya’s Facebook page ..
O. M. G. These look AMAZING. We are dairy free (vegan) and our cousin is Gluten free (and thus at family affairs gets the short end of the stick).. We are both looking forward to this for the next occasion. Which just might be tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow is a Friday. Tomorrow is an occasion! 🙂
Can’t wait to check out your other recipes!!! YUM!
Hooray–thank you Daiya for uniting us 🙂 Welcome Sarah! Happy to have you. Raising my wine glass to special occasions like Fridays! Hope you have fun making (and devouring) these!! xo
Just wanted to ask…
Will you marry me?! Lol!
Going to hit up whole foods to grab the ingredients… You’re my hero!!!
Michael–we are married now! haha. Glad you are Cheez-It happy 🙂
These look great! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I miss little cheese crackers so much!
Miss them no more, Noel 🙂 Be careful though. You *will* devour them in a day. Okay, more like in an hour…
Oh, no! Well, I will try to resist the temptation of gorging myself through their taunting and beckoning from the kitchen. 🙂
You are a better woman than I! 😉
OMG, my son is 4. He asks for fishie crackers often because other kids eat them, but we are vegan and recently GF…. He LOVES Daiya. He will LOVE these! I haven’t gotten the fishie cutter yet, because I’ve only ever found one and it was like $18 total including shipping. For a 1 1/2″ cookie cutter. I just couldn’t do it. BUT I’m happy ot make these into just squares! YUM!
You both are going to LOVE these! Guaranteed!!! xo Have fun making them.
Did you use the shredded Daiya cheese?
Yes I did, Jenny 🙂 I used shredded cheddar flavor.
I bet the Daiya Garlic Jalapeno block melted would be awesome!
Hi I just found your post…luv it…my son is allergic to dairy and Aditya is a god send. These crackers look delish and safe in my house how long do they last or stay fresh if I was to make a couple of batches at once? Again. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Oops I meany daiya. Darn auto correct
I found that the next day they were okay but much better fresh out of the oven 🙂 Besides, it’s hard not to eat all of them anyway… xo
Holy crap, so glad Diaya posted this to their page! This is going to make so many GFCFEF families happy. You should be proud!!!!!
Aw Shannon, thank you so much!! How incredibly kind of you to say… xo
OMG! Please sell them. They look so good…and I love Cheez-its.
HAHA! I will have to find a way not to eat all of them if I ever sell them 🙂 Thanks for that though…xo!
I am in cheese heaven right now. Just baked up a batch of these cheese its and I can’t stop eating them… They’re like macaroni and cheese condensed into a cracker.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
By the way, made this with the Daiya mozzarella style shreds and they worked fantastic. ^_^
Aren’t they the tastiest??! Good grief, I think I might have to bake up a batch now. You are making it sound so good, especially with the mozzarella 🙂 So glad you like them, Natalyn! xo
Would dehydrating cheddar cheese work as cheese powder? also I can only use nut or coconut flours, would those work?? Gosh I miss chez-its!!
Ok, I’m obviously catching up on some of your posts. How did I not see this before! Since going vegan I have craved Cheeze-Its! And knowing you and your recipes, I have a feeling these will be better!
Two questions: (1) I’m assuming that you used the cheddar flavored Daiya to replicate cheddar cheez-its? (2) Do you think that using regular AP flour would work without the xanathan gum? I’m not GF so I don’t necessarily need to use GF flour…
Hi Jessica! Yes, 1). I used cheddar Daiya, but I know someone who used the pepperjack and just loved it; and 2). The sole purpse of xanthan gum is to provide a binder that lacks in the GF flours. If you are not gluten free, there is never really a good reason to ever use xanthan gum so you will always just omit it in all of GF recipes 🙂 Hope that helps!
I finally attempted these and despite no mixer, rolling pin, careful measuring or fancy cutter they came out very tasty. A Jan proof recipe…you are the master!
Get the hell out! That just made me squeal with glee!!!!!
I sooo cannot wait to try these! I have been looking for the substitute of the dreaded ‘fishy crackers” for my little girl for the longest time now….this grocery stop..picking up some Xanthum gum and making some cheezy crackers this weekend! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
(and secret…totally LOVIN’ your blog!:)
Hi April! Isn’t it awesome how incredibly happy a simple alteration to a recipe can make you? Have fun making these–I need to buy a fish cookie cutter and make goldfish myself (you are inspiring me to do so!) And thank you so much for the F&B love and support. Goodness, it means so much to me to hear that you love it, truly! xo
My Cheez-Its loving daughter suggested the name Veeg-Its. Thanks for your creation. I hope to try this one out this weekend.
Okay, your daughter is a genius and I couldn’t love the name Veeg-Its any more!!! That is brilliant. I’m taking it and slapping it on as its official name 🙂 xo
Hooray!
Yes. Sell them to me! I want some right now and I don’t want to wait while they bake. I’ve been missing cheez its for years!!! You’re amazing.
Now you don’t have to miss them anymore 🙂 Hooray!
OH I have looooonged for Cheese Its. You’ve convinced me that this is a recipe to try 🙂 Love it!
Oh Lexie, seriously, these are AMAZING. In fact, I’m going to have to make a batch of Cheez-Its and No-Wheat Thins tomorrow, myself… Happy cracker making 🙂 xo, Cara
are you kidding me? yikes, you are amazing. you should be like a professional chef person. i am passing your blog to a friend who has kids with similar allergies.
I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU!!!!!! What an AMAZING and delightful surprise to see your name 🙂 I was talking to someone about the fake arm. You remember the fake arm? OF COURSE you remember the fake arm 🙂 haha. Can you believe that *I* am doing this? ME. The person who had *the* worst eating habits ever. I still don’t believe it. HOW ARE YOU??? xoxoxoxox <–to you, Spark and the kiddos!
AMAZING! I am so going to make these. I was seriously just saying the other day how I needed to figure out gluten-free cheez-its. You go!
Autumn, I am reading your mind. (That was my next gig if this whole blogging thing didn’t work out: Cara, the Fortune Teller) 🙂 I am so glad that you are going to get your GF Cheez-Its. Eat them fast because I will smell them from afar and come running for them…
Why weren’t you on my RSS feed until now?
I’ve been asking myself that same question, Laurel *shaking head in shame* haha. Kidding folks, I have no idea whose RSS feed I am on, it was a joke…
Of course, it was a joke. You’re actually pretty funny. Plus, I totoally deserved the ribbing. You should have gotten out a court order for all the stalking I was doing.
Or was it is joke? *cue suspicious music* And maybe I’m stalking *you*, not the other way around… *cue creepy music*
Hi love! Ummm yes, I think we are officially blog dating 🙂 HA! I hope Greg and Chris don’t get too jealous…
YAY, these crackers look amazing! I need to make these…and ASAP! I’ve been craving cheesy crackers…perfect!!!!!!
lots of hugs, Nora
I already informed Greg and he says that he approves 🙂 He thinks we make a good couple. hahahaha
I have plain chickpea flour and all of the other ingredients EXCEPT xanthan gum. Do you think some corn starch or maybe agar would be a suitable replacement? Trying to decide if I should make these- they sound great!
Oooooh, good question, Carrie! You MIGHT be able to get away with no xanthan gum because of the size of the crackers and the cheese will be a good binder. However, I don’t think either corn starch or agar could replace it. But what do I know? Are you gluten free? Because if not, you can just use regular flour without the gum… Does this help?
Success! I just subbed cornstarch. Now, they did taste kind of chickpeaish since I used chickpea flour, but still so crunchy, cheesy and good! I’m really excited that I can make my own snack crackers! And it was so easy that I don’t know why the whole world isn’t doing this.
Woo-hoo! Sweet success, I love it, Carrie! Next time, maybe use a blend of chickpea flour, cornstarch and potato starch to lessen the amount of chickpea flour you use/taste. That just might do the trick. So glad that they were easy to do though! xo, Cara
Making these ASAP!
You will be eating all of them as soon as they come out of the oven too 🙂 Guaranteed.
Yeah!! My cat and I have missed cheez-its so much since I’ve gone GF. Thanks!
I love the fact that your cat eats Cheez-Its! ha.
This is amazing! Cheez-its are my dad’s favorite cracker. His birthday is this weekend so I just might have to make these…
What a great birthday idea, Audrey! He will love them. He might even forget to say thank you because his mouth will be stuffed with these 🙂
Ahhhh, I swear I am tasting Cheez-Its after reading this. These really *look* like the real thing, and sure sounds like you’ve got the taste right too. Must buy some Daiya. And I am sure I will eat the entire batch in one sitting. 😀 Well done!
Thank you Jennifer! I am still tasting them too despite the fact that I ate them within the first hour of making them 🙂 hehe. Let me know how it turns out for you!
I LOVE reading these daily posts… I almost always laugh out loud. 🙂 You rock. Love to you!
Now YOU just need to start a blog so I can keep up with your life on a daily basis 🙂 Thanks for being a faithful follower, my friend. Love you lots and glad I could make you chuckle…
I love that you even punched the little hole in the middle. Well done, Cara. Is there anything you can’t do?
Juggle. Ski. Overcome my fear of the ocean. Breakdance. Roll my R’s. See? There is plenty that I can’t do 🙂 haha. Thanks Monica!
Awesome! I’ve always wanted to make my own Cheeze Its 🙂 Thanks for the awesome recipes!!
You got it, Shannon. It’s my duty in this life 🙂 haha.
Any idea if other all-purpose flours would work? Our baby girl loves crackers but garbanzo beans do not like her at all…she gets rashes 🙁
Absolutely, Heather! Try it with any all purpose flour–I am positive it should work. And if not, you can kick me 🙂 That is a bummer about your little girl–man, if it’s not one thing to be allergic too, it’s another huh? Please let me know how they turn out!! xoxo
Hallelujah!!!!
No Way!!! I am so Amazed!!! Wow!!! I so Love this. I really miss my Cheez-its!!!
So Very Sexy!!! So Very Cute!!! Praise Cheez-its!!! You have really done it Now!!!
You are a Master!!! Great Job!!! xoxo
Praise Cheez-Its, indeed! ***currently bowing*** haha. Kidding. And Viv, hand to the Cheez Bible, these taste just like the real thing–Daiya and all!!!